I recently came across a collection of stats as they pertain to social media and blogging. I found it to be a powerful collection of information to have. Especially while reflecting on old blog posts and considering future topics, social media goals and methods in which I can increase my traffic.

With this kind of knowledge you can customize a long-term agenda that will fit in line with some of the current trends.

When it comes to blogging and social media – now is not the time to get left behind.

Social networking usage among seniors 65 and older grew 100% from 13% to 26%, and is expected to continue to increase (Pew Research Center)

Twitter.com had 96 million unique visitors last month up 76% from the same period last year. The #1 spot being held by Facebook with 598 million unique visitors from the same period last year, up 54% from last year (comScore)

29% of Twitter users 18-24 years old use Twitter to follow their favorite companies

60% of web users visit social networks (PC Advisor)

Two thirds of comScore’s U.S. Top 100 websites and half of comScore’s Global Top 100 websites have integrated with Facebook.

The average Facebook user is connected to 60 pages, groups and events (Facebook press office)

Twitter gets more than 300,000 new users every day (Twitter)

There are more than 600 million searches on Twitter every day (Twitter)

Over half of YouTube’s users are 20 years old (YouTube press center)

77% of internet users read blogs (Technorati)

I hope you find these stats to be as inspiring and thought provoking for you as they have been for me.

Writers have always been faced with the question of how to reach readers with their work.

21st Century writers who want to be successful must also find ways to involve readers in what they do. Make them a part of the process of writing or promoting your book, and they’ll be invested in you and your work.

One writer who’s particularly good at this is Robin Sloan, a scifi fiction writer who’s particularly adept at 21st Century marketing. He’s come up with some of the most creative ideas I’ve ever seen, where marketing, writing, and social media interaction with his fans is all part of a single process. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he’s a brilliantly inventive, creative genius of a writer.)

One of Sloan’s most successful ideas was to write and publish a novella after raising a certain amount of money using a fundraising website called Kickstarter. He promised to give the novella away to everyone as a free PDF if his goal was met. His goal was to raise $3,500, and he used various “pledge levels” to give people lots of options. These levels of support would give you varying degrees of access to the finished product (e-copies, printed copies), as well as early looks at the book in progress. He far exceeded his goal by achieving almost $14,000. And as promised, the novella Annabel Scheme is now available to download for free.

Sloan often uses the barter system for making his stories available. He once put up a short story called “The Writer & The Witch” for sale for $.99 on Kindle and then promised that after one hundred purchases, he would make it free for everyone. It happened in record time. Perhaps his most radical idea was to write a short story called “Last Beautiful” and then hand it over to his Twitter followers to edit.

Sloan’s use of social media reminds me of another recent ebook I heard about with a unique marketing campaign. The writers decided to give their book away for free, but with a twist: you have to “pay” for the book by tweeting (or posting) about it on Twitter. They found that this idea was so ingenious that they opened paywithatweet.com up to the general public, where now anyone can use it to give something away (like an ebook) for a little positive word-of-mouth on Twitter. Oh, and the book they were promoting? It’s about Internet marketing, of course.

This barely scratches the surface. There are countless tales like these of writers who are bypassing traditional publishing models by mixing new media, social networking, and self-marketing in wild and wonderful ways. Do you have a favorite writer who’s done anything similar? Please share it with us!

Social Media Breakfast at SXSW - As you can see we're all chatting, just not with each other.

I miss the pre-social media world sometimes, back then ignorance was bliss.

Communicating Back Then

Growing up in the 70’s meant no cell phones or Netbooks. We sent all our correspondences via snail mail and any phone calls came to the house or office. Most of us had one phone in our homes, but some of the more well off families had extensions upstairs, and even separate phones for the kids. No one ever called during dinner hours or after 9:00.

We received our news from newspapers, magazines or one of a half dozen television stations and always had to wait for the designated hours for updates. If there was an emergency, the news would break into our regularly scheduled programming but that was extremely rare. We weren’t always connected and didn’t feel the need to be. In 1977, I was 13 years old. If you had offered me a phone to take everywhere with me, I would have thought you were crazy. Why on earth would I need to call people that much? Yet now, at least where I live, most 13 year olds are connected via cell phone and email.

We had penpals. We wrote to them now and again, usually when our parents reminded us. We sent handwritten “thank you” cards and Christmas cards and everyone marveled at our good manners. We didn’t need to know what all our friends and relatives where doing all day, every day, and that suited us just fine, thank you very much. Today, we know which of our friends are at the airport, what our cousins are having for dinner and who is checking in at the supermarket. Though I’m very proud of being the Mayor of both Stop N’ Shop and Saladworks, I couldn’t give you one good reason why you even need to know I’ve been there.

Communicating Now

When I asked my husband for a smart phone for Christmas I thought it would be kind of convenient to have for occasionally checking email or the odd Twitter update. Who knew it would be come a total extension of me? If you see me and I’m not checking Facebook or Gmail, there’s a good chance I’m about to. I went to a family reunion last fall and everyone under 50 sat in silence for about an hour as we checked our phones for updates. We finally interacted as we began befriending each other on Facebook.

You want to know the funniest thing about all this connectivity? All the social media people (including me) are insisting it’s all about the conversation. Yet we go to conferences and meet ups and sit at tables talking to people online instead of each other. We attend speaking engagements and tweet updates instead of concentrating on what is being said at the podium. In the real world talking while someone else is talking is considered rude. In the social media world, we’re updating people and building trust via conversation.

TMI?

It’s not a secret that I love my Facebook and Twitter, and couldn’t live without blogging. I wonder though, are we going too far? Do you care that my dog chewed the couch or that my son hit a home run? How does it help my business for you to know we’re barbecuing over the weekend? There was a time we would never let anyone know where we lived or what we do when we’re offline, for fear of our safety. Now, there are whole social networks designed to track our every move.

I know we all use the various social networks and social media tools differently, and we’re all in charge of how much information we put out there. However, in our fun I hope we’re also being careful. Communication is cool and all, but there’s such a thing as too much information. It’s why you’ll never see me mention my husband or son’s name, and why the only places I check into on FourSquare aren’t located near my home.

I love my social media, but there’s something to be said about not be connected to every network. No one needs to know that much about someone else.

Let me rephrase that, because I’m not looking to repeat my day and I’m not planning on using Twitter to send out links to my day over and over again.

Rather, on this day, I have retweeting on my mind.

I’m just back from a Skype Chat/interview with the lovely proprietrixes of Freak Revolution, Kyeli and Pace. During one of our many tangents, we discussed retweeting and whether or not people are retweeting because they appreciate the Tweet and what it stands for, or if they’re just echoing their favorite guru.

Do You Read Before You Tweet?

There are times when I’ll throw out a link to my blog and receive instantaneous retweets. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the support of the FWJ community, and don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay everyone all for kindnesses shown to me and this blog throughout the years. However sometimes I think, “hey, did you even read that? You may like the headline, but hate the content!”

It makes me feel good when people retweet my stuff, but I always hope they read the post first. I also hope the post will lead to a discussion and not just a tweet for the sake of a tweet. I look at it this way, when I share a link, it’s an endorsement. It’s telling my friends and followers I found something worth reading and discussing.

What if you retweet one of my posts because it has a kickass headline, but you don’t quite agree with the content? You have to read to know.

Again, Do You Read Before You Tweet?

Something else I notice on Twitter is how many people will argue about a tweeted or retweeted link, but it’s apparent they didn’t read the article or blog posts. It happens with some of my posts now and again. Someone will disagree with something I wrote or say something unpleasant and it’s apparent that person didn’t take the time to read it, or else he or she would have a completely different point of view.

I think sometimes we feel we know everything we need to know just by reading a headline. Or maybe we feel a blog post or article says something important because a favorite blogger or social media enthusiast tweeted a link. I often wonder if we (collectively) share links and retweets to things simply because we like the people tweeting them. I also wonder if we disagree with certain bloggers if only to disagree.

This post isn’t to say we shouldn’t retweet or support our favorite bloggers and authors because you know I’m all about the love. It’s only to wonder if we’re reading everything we support (if that makes sense?).

I hope you like what your favorite bloggers write, but I also hope you’re reading what they write before you offer endorsement.

What are your thoughts? Are too many people on the social networks blindly following and retweeting without knowing what they’re putting out there? Are we acting to headlines without reading the actual blog posts or articles?

Bloggers get addicted to all sorts of crazy (and not so crazy) things – coffee, surfing, Twitter and more. With this in mind, here are some super addictive blogging issues to ponder this week.

Feast or Famine – how many times do you use this phrase as a writer. At least once a week? Twice a week? More? It’s true this phrase is highly addictive to writers, mainly because it’s true. However, our own Lorna Doone Brewer thinks it’s time we gave this addiction a great big shove off.

Su.pr – Oh my gosh I am so utterly addicted to Su.pr this week. I normally use twhirl for tweeting because I run many Twitter sites for multiple clients along with my own but last week one said client was all, “I want you to use Su.pr for our links.” So I checked it out and at first was not thrilled because thus far I haven’t seen that there’s a way to use it for multiple clients without going to the site (haven’t had enough time to explore settings yet), but otherwise it’s terribly addictive and cool. Su.pr allows you to see real time stats regarding clicks to your shortened link, the number of re-tweets your post get on Twitter, plus reviews and stumbles on StumbleUpon. If you write about a topic that does well on StumbleUpon (some do better than others) then you should give this service a whirl. Also read 10 Reasons You Should Use Su.pr for Twitter Links.

My Milk Toof – It’s almost irresponsible for me to send you here because it’s soooooooo addictive. It sounds like a waste of time honestly. I mean little teeth running around getting into shenanigans… huh? Who needs this. Apparently I do because I spent a whole lot of time at this now year old blog surfing back posts. Trust me, I’ve never been the type to get drawn into silly blogs like “Cats making cute faces” – it’s not for me. However, My Milk Toof draws you in with it’s totally unique stance. Also, while it’s cute sure, this blog is also a good example of something that’s missing from many a bland blog – originality. Check it out if you dare.

Maybe you’re too addicted? Some of us do more than blog like a normal sane person, we blog as if our life depends on it. We create multiple projects, think about blog traffic when we’re out with friends and just in general become consumed with too much blogging. That can be a good thing but it can also really hold you back from getting other stuff done. Read why Deb, blog guru that she is, thinks that multiple blogs might be your undoing.

Lastly, why not find out just how addicted you are. If you’ve got a few free minutes take the How Addicted to Blogging Are You quiz. I took it and the quiz says that I’m 90% addicted to blogging; which seems about right. *NOTE: Ignore the lame dating site sign-up and skip to the bottom of the page to see your results once you’ve taken the quiz.

In the past few months I’ve noticed several freelance writers changing their Twitter handle more often than some of us change toilet paper rolls. I think that’s because when we’re confused about what to call ourselves online, or how to present ourselves to clients, we continue to reinvent ourselves.

Here’s something to consider: if you’re confused about your branding, your followers are even more confused. If they don’t know what to call you, they may not call you at all.

Hear me out on this one

Defining Yourself on Twitter

I don’t believe there are any hard and fast rules when it comes to Twitter, or even choosing a Twitter name. My only caution is to think about the branding, if that’s your purpose. For example, I maintain two separate Twitter accounts. One account @freelancewj is the feed for the blogs in the Freelance Writing Jobs network and some news regarding the FWJ community. The account, @debng, is the one I use the most. I don’t use “@debngwriter” or “@debngblogger” or “@debngsocialmediaperson” because there’s more to me than that and I don’t want to limit myself to a label. I wear many too many hats. Plus, friends and family follow me. The common variable between my friends, my colleagues and my clients is that they all know me as “Deb.”

I also feel it doesn’t always work to define the niche too much. For example, if I wrote mostly about, say, gardening, I don’t know if I would call myself @debnggardenwriter on Twitter because it means I’m branding myself as someone who writes about gardening and potential clients might hesitate to reach out to me regarding non-gardening projects. I’m all about establishing expertise in a niche, but sometimes specialized niches don’t bring in as many clients.

I know that some feel that if you don’t brand your niche or career in a Twitter name no one will know who you are or what you do. It’s a valid concern, but not one I necessarily agree with. I can tell what many Twitter friends and followers do just by their reading their Tweets. Also, if there’s a Twitterer I find interesting, I’ll click on his or her bio and browse links. Finally, If really want to know more about a person, I’ll ask.

You’ll notice that most of the people who follow you do so because they sought out folks who share the same interests or have the same career. Most of my friends and followers are involved in social media or freelance writing. If you have a bio listing what you do, and if you talk about yourself on Twitter, people who are interested will find you.

Sticking With One Twitter Name

The inspiration from this post is the result of a conversation with one of my favorite freelance writing Twitter friends. (I’ll let her out herself in the comments if she wants you to know who she is.) Over the past year, she’s changed her Twitter handle quite a few times. She used her name, her name with initials next to them, her name with a swear word, her name with “writer” next to it, and finally, her name with herniche next to it. When I told her she’s confusing me with her Twitter name changes, she said she’s working on branding herself. She has a writing niche she wants to specialize in, and is using her Twitter handle to help brand her with that niche. My concern is that her niche is very specialized and I wonder how many clients will contact her as a result of this very specialized name. Would someone who is simply looking for a writer to help with some content for his website pass her over in favor of someone who doesn’t use specialized branding?

(I’m the first to admit I can be wrong about this, though, and would love to learn your thoughts.)

I guess this is why I stick with my name. No matter I do, I’ll always be me. There’s no confusion. Again, there are no hard and fast rules. However you want to use the social networks is up to you. My only concern is that when you constantly change your name, potential clients, collaborators and friends might be a little confused. What happens if the niche isn’t working for you anymore? Do you change your name again?

How Do You Want the Twitter World to See You?

Do you wanted to be labeled? I don’t. I like having lots of different projects (beyond writing), so for me it makes sense not to label myself on Twitter strictly as a writer. Think about how you want people to see you. Do you want to be known as “JoeDirtTechWriter,” “Joedirtwriter,” “Joe Dirt” or just, plain Joe? Each name might offer a different impression.

I think when we put so much importance on branding we worry about whether or not we’re doing it properly. When we think too hard about it, it gets to complicated. That’s why my brand will always be my name. There’s no confusion there, and what you see is what you get.

What are your thoughts on Twitter and branding? Why did you choose your particular Twitter name?

My list of places to find freelance writing jobs for our daily job lists changes on a regular basis. As I learn of new resources or remove resources that aren’t working for us anymore, I make adjustments to my list. I also like to make these lists available to you from time to time so you can do your own thorough searches for freelance writing jobs. Plus, I think it’s fair to link to those people who make gigs available to us all.

Some of these places require a subscription fee, but many are free. I hope you find this list useful. Please know, this isn’t a full list of places to find freelance writing jobs, but it’s where I search on a daily basis.

Where I Hunt for Freelance Writing Jobs

1. Craigslist – I’ll state it again for the record: Craiglslist gets a bum rap. Because of its seedy personals section and haven for scammers, many freelancers write it off as a place to NOT look for work. I disagree. Most of the leads you find here come from Craigslist and they’re not all low payers. I found several very lucrative clients via Craigslist and you can too.

2. Mediabistro– I love Mediabistro for many reasons, but especially the job list. Most of their jobs are of the full time variety, but each day features a sprinkling of gigs for freelancers.

3.Indeed– Indeed, the job search engine, also provides many of the leads you see here on a regular basis. Expect to see gigs pulled for a variety of sources including Monster, Career Builder and others. The only problem is that places like Examiner and Hub Pages advertise in every town and every city in every state, so sometimes you’ll have to go through dozens, if not hundreds of entries for these places before finding unique gigs.

4. Freelance Daily – Like FWJ, Freelance Daily culls leads from a variety of sources including Craigslist, Indeed and Media Bistro. Leads are mailed to you each day so you don’t have to venture past your email to look for work. It’s a paying service and will set you back about $100 per year, but those who enjoy the convenience find it worth the expense.

5. About Freelance Writing – My friend Anne Wayman offers leads and advice from a seasoned vet. Check Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the gigs. We have some overlaps here and there, but between the two of us you’re covered.

6. Journalism Jobs-Features some general freelance writing jobs as well as newspaper gigs from around the world.

8.Freelance Job Openings -This job board offers a mixed bag of opportunities. Most are of the lower paying variety, but every now and then, a surprising lucrative opportunity pops up.

9. FlexJobs: As its name indicates, Flexjobs includes a variety of flexible opportunities. Some are freelance, some are telecommute and some are simply flexible. Not all gigs are for writers and you’ll have to pay to play, but you might find stuff not found on the usual job baords.

10. Twitter: There are a variety of ways to find gigs with Twitter. For example, many of the freelancers I follow Tweet links to freelance writing jobs all the time. Also, I useTwitter Job Search and Twitter Search.

12. Paying Writer Jobs – A Yahoo newsgroup where the members all share leads to writing gigs and contest entries. Be forewarned: If you’re not an active particpant you’ll be dropped from the list!

13. Telecommute Job List: Aggregates all the telecommute jobs from Craigslist. Some are freelance, some are full time and some are scams, so proceed with caution. However, this can be quite the handy tool. Use it to search for telecommute jobs beyond writing gigs, if you’re looking to work at home.

So there you have it. This is where I search for freelance writing jobs each day. I also do occasional Google searches for submission pages. Also, many businesses have a page on their websites listing available opportunities and some of these are for freelancers. I’ll search for those as well.

There are so many places to find work for all types of freelance writers. Whether you want to work for a content site, a business or a publication, if you’re diligent in your searching, you’ll find plenty of work.

Twitter lists have me torn. On one hand, they seem like a popularity contest with the most popular Tweeters landing on the most lists. However, at second glance they become something a lot more useful; directories listing freelance writers and freelance writing clients.

Honestly, I don’t know many folks who use the various Twitter lists each day. I ignored them until recently, but finally realized they were valuable both for those looking for work and for clients looking to hire freelance writers.

What are Twitter Lists and Why Should I Care?

Twitter lists are user-generated lists of people and businesses on Twitter organized by specific topics. For example, I’m listed on over 600 Twitter lists under “freelance writers,” “Bloggers,” “NJ Social Media,” “Influencers,” “conversationalists” and so many others. The creators of individual Twitter lists have many reasons for doing so, mostly because it helps to narrow down the follower list. For example, I have a list of my favorite Tweeters on a list called “Always Worth a Retweet.” I look at this list each day because it contains what I feel are the most interesting Twitterers of those I follow. It changes weekly.

I follow more than 6,000 people, Twitter lists help me keep track of different followers in difference niches and genres.I also have several private Twitter lists that I use to help with my career, my book, and to keep track of my personal friends and neighbors.

Let’s explore some of the types of Twitter lists I use and their benefits.

Twitter Lists Based on Location

Sorting out Twitterers based on location helps those who are seeking writers or clients in their area. For example, I follow several lists for my state and community for the news, and also to learn who is hiring, who is firing, who might be likely to take on a freelancer and more. There’s a local law firm nearby that hires freelance writers. I have them on one of my private lists so I can see when they’re putting out feelers. That isn’t to say that everyone in a particular locality hires freelancers. However, following local businesses can give you an idea of who is hiring and who might be in the market.

Twitter Lists Based on Profession

If you’re a writer with a Twitter account, there’s a good chance you’re on at least a dozen Twitter lists. Clients who don’t wish to go the job board route can peruse these lists and find writers. No, they’re not going to hire you based on your Tweets alone. However, a lot can be learned by browsing lists. Writers who are on many different lists or have interesting Tweets might lead to further exploration. Writers who Tweet links to their blog posts are showing samples of their writing to potential clients, and may not even know it.
Also consider the types of Twitterers who hire writers. For example, webmasters, publishing companies, media agencies, newspapers, blog networks, content sites and others. Many of these types of places will Tweet out their gigs. If you’re not following them, or if their Tweets are buried among the thousands you follow, how will you know? Isolate the places that hire writers on your own public or private Twitter lists so their job Tweets don’t get lost in the noise.

Twitter Lists Based on Expertise

If you’re an automotive writer, you’ll want to follow automotive lists – and you should even be on those lists. The same with all the niches and genres. Follow lists made up of the influential people and businesses in your area of expertise. Get to know these people and become of a part of the community. When they need a writer, they’ll know who to call.

Lists of Freelance Writing Job Listers

Here’s my secret weapon for finding job leads (and now you can do it too): I have several private lists featuring nothing but people who Tweet links to job lists. There are so many bloggers who post jobs, and businesses and individuals who Tweet links to freelance writing jobs several times a day. By organizing them into one list I see all the job listers at a glance and this helps me cultivate job lists for you.

Twitter Lists to Narrow Your Focus

I wasn’t sure what to do with Twitter Lists at first. Now, I see they have many benefits. They allow me to narrow my focus.

I enjoy reading Tweets from all the people I follow. Having lists enable me to have a big follower list and still get the most out of all the individual Twitters. I maintain lists for social media friends, writing friends, personal friends, clients, potential clients, book publishers and agents, and so much more.

The beautiful part of Twitter lists is that I can make them private or public. I do choose to keep most of my lists private, but that’s because much of that information is used for blog posts and job lists and I like to have a little of an edge. When I make my intentions public, people tend to “borrow” my ideas. I also have a couple of public lists for fun stuff.

You can create or follow Twitter lists for your benefit as well. Think about all the people and places you’d like to write for and create lists so you can see if they might be hiring writers.

So many people write off a particular social media tool because they don’t get it. Instead of dismissing something you don’t understand, why not learn how it works and best use it to your advantage? I almost made this mistake with Twitter lists but I’m glad I gave it a second chance.

During our last night at SXSW, my good friends Andy Hayes, Chris Garrett and I enjoyed some dinner and conversation. Our topic revolved around blog community and whether or not our communities owe us anything for all the information we share. We all agreed that our communities support us in many ways including visiting our blogs every time we post. Without this type of support, there would be no reason to blog at all. I always said that without my community I’m nothing and both Chris and Andy agreed. We appreciate the loyalty of our individual communities and we find our reward in their enjoyment of our words.

With that said, sometimes your favorite bloggers would like to know that they have a supportive community. Yes, traffic does tell us something, but without participation sometimes it’s just bodies. I liken blog traffic without participation to walking into a restaurant and walking out again.

Restaurants have communities too, though. They:

Stop by and order a meal

Chat with regular diners and staff

Support local promotions and events

Recommend the restaurant to others

Sometimes bloggers wouldn’t mind seeing support beyond regular traffic. It’s not that we don’t appreciate that you all visit us each day, but we’d like to know how you feel and that our words have touched you. We want to enjoy your company. We want to learn about you as a community and also as individuals. Yes, visiting is enough, but here are some other ways you can support your favorite bloggers:

Comment: Did you like a post? Hate it? Tell the blogger why. Even if you disagree, the blogger will appreciate your input and the community will benefit from all sides of the story. I can’t think of one blogger who doesn’t get a rise out of seeing his community respond to a post. Our biggest disappointment is writing a post that gets no comments. You don’t have to reach into your wallet to support a blogger, instead take part in the discussion. I promise, you’ll make his or her day.

Recommend: Recommend blogs you enjoy to others. Share the love. Someone once said to me that she doesn’t recommend blogs because she doesn’t want them to turn into the “intimate local band that hit big and now everyone likes them and you can’t turn on the radio without hearing them.” I’m not sure I share this logic. What’s wrong with everyone enjoying the same thing?

Share your favorite posts: If you liked a post give it a Stumble or a Tweet or share on Facebook. When a blogger sees that people have been sharing something she wrote, there’s no better feeling. When she sees one of her discussion topics stimulating conversation on the social networks, that’s the gravy. You don’t have to click on ads or buy ebooks to support a favorite blogger. However, occasionally sharing or recommending will make all the blogging so worth it.

Send feedback: Do your favorite bloggers know how you feel about their blogs? Why not send feedback. Drop a line saying how much you like what they do. If there’s something you didn’t like, well say that too – but do be respectful. If the blogger has a survey or feedback form, fill it out. Feedback allows bloggers to write topics of interest to the community and lets them know if they’re on the right track.

Most of us blog because we enjoy blogging and just knowing you’re out there reading is reward enough. Some bloggers spend hours each day building their blogs to foster a happy community. If that means something to you, let them know. You don’t have to sing songs around the campfire, but adding your voice now and then will make your favorite blogger’s day. I know it makes mine.